286. Memorandum From the Director of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (Hoegh) to President Eisenhower0
On November 18, 1958, the Honorable Frederick H. Mueller, Under Secretary of Commerce, wrote me requesting that I make an immediate investigation under Section 8 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 19581 for the purpose of determining the effect upon the national security of current imports of petroleum and petroleum products.
As you know, on April 23, 1957, Mr. Gordon Gray, then Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization, certified to you that he had reason to believe crude oil was being imported into the United States in such quantities as to threaten to impair the national security.2 Mr. Gray took this action under Section 7 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1955,3 since superseded by Section 8 of the 1958 Extension Act.
[Page 576]Thereupon, you appointed the Special Committee to investigate Crude Oil Imports and directed it to undertake an investigation to determine the facts. On July 29, 1957, the Committee confirmed Mr. Gray’s certification in a special report and recommended the development of a voluntary program to limit crude oil imports.4 You accepted the report and recommendations and authorized the crude oil import program which has been in effect since that time.
On May 28, 1958, Mr. Gray wrote you to say that he concurred in the judgment of the Special Committee that it was necessary for the Committee to have cognizance of all aspects of the matter of the importation of petroleum and its products, in order that the Committee might guard against circumvention of the voluntary program through the importation of products.5 Accordingly, Mr. Gray advised you that his original certification of April 23, 1958, required cognizance of the whole field of petroleum and its products and recommended that you instruct the Special Committee to govern itself accordingly.
You instructed the Committee to proceed along those lines and, since then, the revised national security clause (Section 8 of the 1958 Extension Act), through use of the phrase “... imports of such article and its derivatives ... “6 has supported the view that the Special Committee should have cognizance of all aspects of the importation of petroleum and petroleum products.
In view of Under Secretary Mueller’s request, I have felt it proper to review the factors which influenced Mr. Gray’s original conclusions and your responses to them. In the light of this background, and as provided for in Section 8 of the 1958 Extension Act, I have also conducted an investigation which I deem appropriate in order to determine the current oil import situation as it is related to the national security.
In the course of this investigation, I have sought information and advice from other appropriate Departments and Agencies. Likewise, I have given consideration to the relevant factors set forth in Section 8. Finally, I have examined the trend of past imports, the current situation and such projections as are available. As to such projections, I have also weighed the potential consequences of a termination of the voluntary program which has been in effect since Mr. Gray’s original certification.
On the basis of the foregoing, in response to Under Secretary Mueller’s request, I do hereby advise you, pursuant to Section 8 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1958, that in my opinion crude oil [Page 577] would be imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security, if it were not for action to limit crude oil imports. I believe also, as did Mr. Gray, that the certification with respect to crude oil requires cognizance of all aspects of the importation of petroleum and petroleum products.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Rand Records, Nationalization-Rand. No classification marking.↩
- Under Section 8 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1958, approved August 20, 1958, a head of any Department or Agency could request the Director, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, to make an investigation to determine the effects on national security of importation of articles into the United States. If the Director considered that the imports impaired or threatened the national security, he was to inform the President, who was empowered to take such action as he deemed necessary to adjust imports to a level that would not threaten the national security. (72 Stat. 678)↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, vol. X, pp. 673–674.↩
- Approved June 21, 1955. (69 Stat. 166.)↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, vol. X, pp. 722–731.↩
- Not found.↩
- Ellipses in the source text.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩